I did go to a film school in Sarajevo. I studied film and theatre directing. There was a war raging in the country while I was studying, and we did not have neither electricity nor cinemas for three and a half years.
I am successful if I manage to make a film that I want and if it works emotionally for the audience and if it stays with them after the screening and means something for them. Awards or money have symbolic power.
As a child, I used to 'torture' other kids by making them be in my shows. I would sell tickets to neighbors and organize performances.
When I go to a cinema, I don't care if the film is made by a man or a woman as long as it tells me a story, as long as it offers pictures that shed light on my existence, characters I can identify with, jokes I can laugh at.
Film is the most liberal of arts and, at the same time, it can be a very conservative art. Money that is involved in filmmaking is distributed mostly to men, thus creating a celluloid ceiling for women.
As a filmgoer and a filmmaker, I want to participate and tell stories of woman and man that will move us forward.
I want to create films that will speak to different parts of our hearts and brains, stories told from a different angle.
